French giants sign Aussie Cooper

AUSTRALIA flyhalf Quade Cooper has agreed a two-year deal to join Toulon, the French Top 14 club have confirmed.

The 27-year-old Queensland Reds player, who has 53 caps, follows club and international scrumhalf teammate Will Genia in moving to France.

Big-spending Toulon announced the deal on their website stating that he would join the Mediterranean port team this summer.

"It's a player we've been watching for years, who could have been the best in the world during the last World Cup, had he not been injured," said owner Mourad Boudjellal.

He said manager Bernard Laporte would decide who would be his first choice flyhalf, with four others in the squad already.

"We hesitated a lot before signing another one. But we saw in the early season that we missed something and that it was not enough to have four flyhalves," he added.

Former Wallabies playmaker Matt Giteau is already at the club, who have reached this year's European Champions Cup final and will be chasing their third title in-a-row when they play Clermont Auvergne at Twickenham on May 2.